A ton of new things happened to me, and it required me to maintain beginner’s mind as much as I could. In January, our new baby was born. I became a new mother. We suddenly had a new number-one priority: the needs of our daughter.

In February, we moved to a new house with a stunning, new view of the lake. In the summer, I visited a new continent (South America), met my new family (my husband is Colombian) and entered into a new marriage. I published two new books.

I was awash in newness. It was a challenging, rewarding, overwhelming, simple, emotional, joyful, exhausting, novel and memorable year.

For the past few days, I’ve been pondering my word for 2014. In 2011, it was mindfulness. In 2012, movement. For next year, I’ve decided on flourish.

I’ve decided to flourish.

My aspiration is that Jade will continue to grow, and I will too—as a mother, partner, friend, writer, sister, teacher. The key is to flourish. It’s the opposite of “barely getting by.”

Flourish is both a verb (thrive; prosper) and a noun: something that is added as a detail or decoration; a dramatic or fancy way of doing something; a sudden smooth movement that is likely to be noticed

May we all flourish… with a flourish! Here’s to a fruitful moment, month and life.

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Published by yogafreedom

Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a yoga teacher and freelance writer, editor and translator, as well as the creator of Yoga Freedom. She is a 40-something gringa Gemini in Guatemala where she lives with her family. Michelle learned yoga from a book at age 12 and found zen in California at 23. A native of Austin, Texas, she enjoys reading, writing, hiking, swimming and lounging in hammocks.
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